


The Other Uzumaki

by MsBlam



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically Naruto gets a cousin, Gen, I have no idea where this is going, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no editing we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-09-19 10:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsBlam/pseuds/MsBlam
Summary: There is a knock on the door, and Naruto grudgingly gets up to answer.It’s Jiji, and his face stretches into a wide grin, but then it turns into one of suspicion when he sees that the Hokage isn’t alone.Holding his hand is a girl about his age, she has blood red hair and looks like she wants to be anywhere but here.





	1. Tea is for the Elderly and People that Hate Themselves

It’s a sweltering August afternoon when there is a knock at Naruto’s door. He groans as he peels himself off the hardwood floor. Normally on a weekend like this, he would be out playing pranks on anyone dumb enough to get caught in one of them, but It’s too hot for that today. The little A/C unit in his window is the only relief he has and he’s not about to give it up for anything.

He pads to the door and tenses as he opens it, wondering if it’s some other dickbag here to harass him about something that has nothing to do with him.

But it’s not.

It’s Jiji, and his face stretches into a wide grin, but then it turns into one of suspicion when he sees that the Hokage isn’t alone.

Holding his hand is a girl about his age, she has blood red hair and looks like she wants to be anywhere but here. Her gaze is locked on the floor and her mouth is pinched in a harsh frown.

“Ah, Naruto. I’m glad I caught you at home.” Jiji says like the masked men don’t tell him everything that Naruto does.

“Hiya, Jiji!” He says brightly, because weird girl with him or not, Naruto is always happy to see the old man.

Luckily Naruto had cleaned up just yesterday, the heat making both dirty cloths and dishes take on a stench that even Naruto couldn’t ignore.

“May we come in? I have something I’d like to discuss with you.” The old man says, and Naruto is smart enough to know it must have something to do with the girl.

“Sure!” He pulls the door open more fully, keeping an eye on the girl, she still doesn’t look up from the spot on the floor she’s trying to glare a hole in.

He goes and puts on water for tea like Iruka-sensei had told him to do when he has guests over. He sets out three cups at the table and hurriedly drags in a third chair from where he was using it as a footstool in his pantry.

“Take a seat Jiji!” He offers as he starts to measure out the tea from the tin.

Naruto wants to fidget as he waits for the water to boil, but he forces himself not to. Only little kids fidget. He sneaks another glance at the girl. She had taken a seat and was still glaring, it’s at her teacup this time.

“Ah, thank you, Naruto-kun.” The Hokage says as Naruto carefully pours the tea, he takes his own seat and waits. The old man takes a sip, humming in appreciation despite the fact that the tea was out of date and probably tasted even more awful than tea usually does. He carefully doesn’t shift in his seat despite the fact that Jiji is taking his sweet time sipping at his tea. Naruto know that trying to hurry the man into speaking never works.

“Very good.” Jiji deems, as he sets his cup down. Neither Naruto or the girl reach for their cups, and Naruto feels kinship with her for that simple fact. Really, who actually liked tea besides old people?

“Now Naruto, might I introduce you to my young friend?” Jiji says and the girls glare shifts from the cup to the Hokage for a split second. Naruto just smiles despite the unease that has started to curl in his gut.

“Uzumaki Naruto, this is Uzumaki Kasumi.”

Naruto’s entire world seemed to stop. His eyes are fixed on the girl and he can’t seem to comprehend exactly what’s happening.

“Uzumaki? Does that mean –?”

It’s like there is cotton in his brain, he can’t think.

“Indeed, Kasumi-chan is your cousin, how distant I’m not sure.” Jiji confirms, nodding his head and taking another sip of tea like he hadn’t just tipped Naruto’s entire world sideways.

“She recently lost her parents, and is now an orphan, instead of putting her in the orphanage, I thought it would be best to see if you would be willing to share your apartment, Naruto-kun.”

Naruto’s mind is going a mile a minute. Why is this the first time he’s hearing about other Uzumaki? Had they known about Naruto but not wanted anything to do with him? Is that why Kasumi wasn’t looking at him? Did she hate him?

“Of course she can stay here, Jiji!” Naruto says brightly, plastering a smile on his face. “We are going to have tons of fun! We can build pillow forts and play pranks on old man Haiku and everything!” Naruto tacks on trying to distract form the fact that he has no idea how to respond to this. At all.

“I’m glad to hear that, Naruto.” He says and this time when Naruto’s eyes dart over to look at the girl, Jiji decides to address it.

“I’m afraid Kasumi doesn’t talk much, she hasn’t spoken since her parents passed. But Iruka-sensei tells me you talk enough for two.”

Something about the statement seems to ring false, because when Naruto looks at Kasumi, he can tell she has plenty to say.

Naruto laughs and rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. Iruka-sensei wasn’t wrong.

“Well then, I will leave you two to get to know each other. Thank you for the tea, Naruto, it was excellent.” The man says standing up. Naruto jumps up to follow him to the door like you’re supposed to.

“Okay! I’m sure we’ll be best friends in no time!” He assures.

The Hokage leaves them and Naruto wonders what the fuck just happened.

He turns back and is greeted with the sight of Kasumi half out of her seat like she is about to get up.

They make eye contact.

“You got anything to drink besides tea?”

Naruto smiles.


	2. The first and only step of becoming friends is sharing a meal

Naruto is so unbelievably happy to have a cousin. The joy and excitement bubbles in his chest and makes it hard to breath.

Kasumi is quiet, she doesn’t talk much, but she never shies away from giving her opinion on things.

Jiji has one of his ninja drop off another bed and a few sets of cloths for Kasumi along with a bag of other stuff she needs like a toothbrush. They both sort of stand there after the ninja leaves, unsure of where exactly to go from there.

They end up pushing his bed to one side of the bedroom and shove her bed in the other, giving some illusion of personal space. 

It’s the little things that really makes the whole thing surreal. A different brand of shampoo and conditioner in the shower, another set of house slippers by the door. It’s a thousand little things that Naruto never knew he didn’t have before.

They’re laying in their beds that night when Kasumi asks him a question.

“Do grown ups come by to check on you?”

The question makes his gut twist in something that might be shame or maybe guilt, but he’s not sure why.

“No, why would they? I can take care of myself ya know!” He defends even though it hadn’t sounded like she was blaming him.

“Don’t know, just wondering.” She replies, turning over to face the wall, ending the conversation.

The question sticks in his head. He doesn’t’ know why.

They go shopping the next day. Kasumi had looked through his kitchen that morning and the frown on her face was enough that he offers to take her to the market. Naruto figures she’ll what whatever ramen flavor she likes best.

They’re not even all the way to the markets when Kasumi slips her hand in his and tugs him close so she can whisper in his ear.

“Why are they looking at us like that?” She hisses.

Naruto’s stomach drops as he looks around and really takes the people in. They are glaring at him, just like always, either outright snarling at him or giving him dark looks over their shoulders.

It’s funny, he doesn’t notice it anymore. Normally he just ignores it, tunes out the hissed insults, keeps his eyes forward and just above the rooftops. But Kasumi wouldn’t be used to it, and the stares bother her. It makes resentment and shame curl in his gut in equal measure.

Embarrassed because he wants her to like it here, to like _him_. He’s afraid that if she listens to the villagers, she’ll end up hating him. Resentment because he hasn’t done anything wrong and the villagers hate him anyway. He’s done nothing to them but they refuse to let him buy things at their shops, hiss insults at him, and now they are doing the same to Kasumi just because she’s walking beside him.

He should have told her to go without him, so people wouldn’t see her with him. So they wouldn’t hate her too.

Looking around there is not a single friendly face to be seen.

“Because they hate me.” He says quietly back to his cousin who is still staring at the people around them.

“Why?” She asks, barely louder than a breath.

He would really like to know the answer to that question, but he’s all but given up on that.

“I don’t know, they just do.” He says tiredly.

It’s stupid, no matter how hard he tries, they still glare at him, they never acknowledge him unless it’s to shout at him to go away. Sometimes he gets in trouble just so they’ll _look_ at him.

His answer seems to make Kasumi angry.

“What trash.” She hisses, her eyes darting around again before settling on the road ahead of them.

He sees the way she draws herself up, her shoulders squaring off, her chin jutting out defiantly. The hand in his tightens and she starts walking forward. She just walks right down the middle of the road and stares at the people that glare, meeting their eyes and sneering at them. It’s a little impressive how she manages to convey the opinion that the people she’s looking at are worth less than the dirt on her shoes without saying a word.

She just drags Naruto alongside her, like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

He directs her to the market and as soon as she sets her sights on the stalls, she’s marching over to a vegetable stall.

Naruto can tell Kasumi throws them off. They know who Naruto is, and normally they’d just tell him the stall is closed or tell him to leave. His cousin ignores the shop keeper, and starts picking out vegetables. He doesn’t know what she’s planning on making, but he’s just a little in aw that the man that owns the stall doesn’t chase them out.

Kasumi hands the produce she’d picked out to the man so he can weigh them, and to Naruto’s ever lasting surprise, he does. He says their total, and Naruto pulls out his wallet, and hands over the right amount.

He can see the utter disgust on the man’s face as he takes the money, but he takes it all the same.

Kasumi drags him to the next stall to pick out fruit and then to a stall that sells things like flour and spices.

It’s surreal. Kasumi glares at each of the stall owners, her eyes hard and challenging. They grudgingly accept the money and the two Uzumaki walk away with hands full of groceries.

It’s already mid-day by the time they get back to the apartment and put everything away. Kasumi shoves his boxes of ramen out of the way to make room for the things she’d gotten and then starts pulling out pots that he never even thinks about using.

Naruto hangs back and just watches.

She has to drag the extra chair over to reach the counter and the sink.

He’s seen people cook before, on survival days in the academy and when he’d snuck into the kitchen at the orphanages to try and get some food before everyone else ate it all, but this is different somehow.

His cousin measures out rice, washes it for some reason and then carefully measures out water and sticks it all in the rice cooker that Naruto has never figured out how to work. She puts the little basket with holes in the top and then puts sliced up vegetables and two eggs in as well. She snaps the lid down and presses a few buttons on the machine.

He’s not sure how se expects the vegetables and eggs to cook in the _rice_ cooker, but he’s willing to wait with the acknowledgment that he has absolutely no idea what to do in a kitchen.

Kasumi drags the chair over to the stove, and peels open a can of spam. He wrinkles is nose in disgust as she shakes the can upside down and the mass of meat slowly shimmies out. She shaves off a few slices of the meat before she puts the tin right side up again and the meat slides back down into the can.

She flicks on the range and slowly the sound of sizzling meat fills the kitchen.

It actual doesn’t smell bad.

She does some sort of magic with some of the spices she’d picked out and the apartment fills with the scent of cooking meat.

She switches off the flames just as the rice cooker beeps at them. She pulls out two bowls and two sets of chopsticks, spoons out globs of rice into both, doles out half of the vegetables on top, the eggs and slices of meat go next.

Kasumi slides one bowl to Naruto as she sits down across from and he has a little trouble swallowing so he can speak.

“Thank you for the food.” He intones like Iruka told him he’s supposed to.

It’s not really that good. The rice is plain and the vegetables are tasteless. The egg is a little too cooked and the meat a little burnt. And it’s also the best meal Naruto has ever had in his life.

“It’s so good, Kasumi!” he praises, making himself smile past the fragile feeling in his chest.

It’s the first time someone has cooked for him. It’s the first meal he’s ever sat down and shared with someone. Shared with his _family_.

“Who taught you how to cook?” He asks, one part trying to make conversation and one part truly curious.

“My Kaa-san.” Is the clipped answer. And yeah, Naruto should have expected that. He ducks his head against his own stupidity.

“She must have been a great cook.” He says for a lack of anything else to cut the suddenly sad atmosphere.

“She was.” Kasumi agrees.

Naruto doesn’t open his mouth again, but the silence isn’t too oppressive. He grabs their dishes when they’re done because it’s only fair for him to clean up. The light feeling in his chest is still there despite his blunder at bringing up Kasumi’s parents. Despite everything things had turned out okay.

It’s a good day.

He’d like to say that things were better the next time they go to the market, but it’s not. Apparently, the novelty of seeing Kasumi with him has worn off because despite her snarl and glares, the shop keepers turn them away. 

They only manage to buy eggs that day and Kasumi stomps home in silent fury. She slams the door so hard it rattles the windows.

“What trash.” She snarls.

“Like what the actual fuck, what did we ever do to them?” She demands pacing from the kitchen to the bedroom and then back.

“Kasumi –“ She cut’s him off before he can say anymore.

“What is their problem?” She yells at the wall.

“It’s me, you can probably go back and get stuff without me.” She turns on him and he regrets opening his mouth.

“Fuck that, and fuck you for letting them treat you like that.” She snarls pointing at him threating. It makes his gut churn in helpless anger.

“What am I supposed to do?” he demands. His eyes sting a little.

“I don’t know! Go to the Hokage!”

“I’ve tried! It gets better for a few weeks and then they just do it all over again!”

“Then tell him again!” She yells, and it makes something snap in his chest.

“No one cares!” He shouts right in her face. It brings her up short. 

“No one care about me, Kasumi.” He says more quietly as he backs up a step.

“I care.” She says like it’s that simple.

He gives her a pained smile. Her words are more than anyone has ever given him before and he loves her for it.

The argument is dropped, but he doesn’t forget it.

He doesn’t really know what they’re going to do. He’s fine with eating ramen every day, but he knows Kasumi isn’t. She’d given him the brief explanation her Mom had told her about why it was important to eat fruits and vegetables, but he doesn’t really understand it. He just knows that Kasumi wants to buy fruits and vegetables and the cook them herself, and that is enough of a reason for him to try and figure out a way around everything.

That night he slips out of his bed on cat silent feet and heads for the door.

If there is fresh produce in the fridge in the morning, or if their supply of rice is restocked, Kasumi doesn’t say anything about it. And maybe the next week two Uzumaki slip out the door in the dead of night and come back with food. But neither of them would know anything about that either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have no idea where this is going, but a big thank you to Nullum for inspiring this chapter!


	3. Saying Thank You is a Good Way to Show Someone You Appreciate Them

It’s another two weeks until the academy starts again, and Naruto is proud to say that him and Kasumi are best friends by the time they have to wake up early on Monday and go to class. The glares haven’t lessened any, but Kasumi seems to have gotten used to them. She ignores them for the most part and sneers at people if they catch her eye. They walk to class hand in hand and it’s a little gratifying to see the other kids stare in open curiosity at the new person in their class.

“This is my cousin, Uzumaki Kasumi! If you’re mean to her, I’ll kick in your face!” He introduces. They go and sit down by the window in Naruto’s normal spot. The two other seats in his row are empty, no one has ever tried to sit there before. It’s pure satisfaction to be able to push Kasumi in first so he can bracket her between him and the window. He might ask to switch in a few weeks because the window seat is his favorite, but for now he’ll stay between her and the rest of the class so they can’t stare at her as easily. So they don’t come up and ask her questions.

It’s something he’s noticed about his cousin. He’d thought Jiji had been messing with him when he said Kasumi didn’t talk because she talks to him all the time, but as soon as they leave the apartment it’s like a switch is flipped. She’ll glare, she’ll point and motion wildly, but she won’t talk. Sometimes she’ll tug him close enough so she can whisper in his ear, but that’s only if she has to.

He’d asked her once about it, and then immediately regretted it. She’d gotten this pained, almost scared look on her face and had just shrugged. Naruto hadn’t brought it up again. Like Iruka says, Naruto talks enough for two.

Iruka finally walks into class, his arms full of paperwork that are no doubt tests for them so he knows how much they’ve forgotten over the summer. He takes a look around and does a headcount, and his eyes come to a halt when they get to Naruto and Kasumi. The teacher sets down the stack of papers and takes the one of the top, scanning down it and flipping it over when he doesn’t see what he’s looking for at first. His eyes stop, flick up to the Uzumaki again and then back down to the paper. Then he looks away from them and continues with his mental role call.

That’s why Naruto like Iruka, it’s obvious that he doesn’t like Naruto, but he doesn’t let it effect how he treats the blond. Yeah, Naruto can tell how much the teacher dislikes being around him, but that doesn’t stop Iruka form hovering over him and badgering him about his work just like every other student.

It’s not the pranks that make the teacher dislike him, Kiba and Shika have played almost as many as him, it’s something else. The same thing that makes the villagers hate him, but still Naruto can’t figure out what it is.

As messed up as it is, the time Naruto spends in detention with Iruka is some of the best afternoons of his life. Naruto will have to clean the entire classroom after one of his pranks and Iruka will be at his desk grading paper as he waits for Naruto to get done. Sometimes the man will talk to himself, commenting on how wrong a student’s answer is or laughing slightly at the really wrong ones. Iruka hums to himself too, easy little songs that get stuck in Naruto’s head for days after. Sometimes if it’s early in the week and Iruka isn’t so tired from all countless things he has to do, Naruto can ask him a question and Iruka will actually _talk_ to him. He mostly asks about boring mundane things like how to fix tea or how to check out a book at the library because those are the questions Iruka is most likely to answer. Everything he knows about manners or politeness comes form Iruka in those snatches of conversation.

In those moments it’s like Iruka forgets to hate him.

Everything goes almost good the first few days. Kasumi obviously loves the part of class spent outside and working on taijutsu. It’s equaling as obvious that she dislikes classroom work, mostly because Iruka has a jar of names that he cycles through, picking a name and calling on that person to answer. He’s pulled Kasumi’s name out three times already and each time his cousin has just stared Iruka dead in the eye and shrugged her shoulders.

It clearly annoys the man.

Naruto offers to say her answer for her, but she just shakes her head.

It’s Thursday of the first week when Iruka asks Kasumi to stay after class so he can talk to her.

Naruto lingers to the side of the open classroom door. He can see both Iruka and Kasumi in the reflection of the closed door from the classroom across form theirs. Iruka is sitting at his desk and Kasumi is standing silently in front of it, staring Iruka down.

Naruto is sure he’s about to lay into her about how she needs to talk in class and how she needs to try harder. It makes frustration boil in his gut. Some of the kids had already made some jokes about how Kasumi doesn’t talk.

So what? She doesn’t talk. It’s not like she’s hurting anyone. What does it matter?

Iruka surprises him. He holds out what looks like a book to Kasumi, his cousin hesitating before taking it.

“Muteness is not considered a disability in Konoha, every shinobi Chuunin and above is required to be proficient in the basics of Standard Konoha Sign Language. Jounin are required to be fluent.”

Naruto has to swallow past the lump in his throat.

Iruka really was his favorite teacher.

“I can help tutor you on Monday nights, but I expect you to practice on your own.”

He sees the jerky nod from his cousin.

“Here, I made you a sheet explaining all the abbreviations and shorthand in the book. It’s also in the back of the book it you lose it.”

Iruka then proceeds to spend the next hour teaching Kasumi how the properly use her hands and giving her tips on how to memorize the vocabulary. Naruto isn’t ashamed to say that he peeks around the corner of the door frame to watch. It’s interesting in a boring way, but he makes himself pay attention because it’s important to Kasumi. He can also see how cool it will be to talk silently. Which, if he thinks about it, explains why Chuunin and Jounin are required to know it. 

Kasumi leaves with a beaming smile on her face and an arm full of papers and her new book.

Naruto hesitates, watching his cousin practically bounce down the hallway. He turns back to the classroom.

Iruka is packing his things up, and Naruto knows enough about how much grading he always has to do to know that he’d went out of his way to spend so much time helping Kasumi. His cousin had already thanked him, using the new vocabulary Iruka had already taught her, but Naruto wanted to thank the man too.

Iruka looks up as he grabs his bag and freezes when he sees Naruto.

“Naruto?” He asks and it hurts that he can almost hear a sliver of fear in the man’s voice.

“Thank you.” Is all he says bending at the waist and staring at the floor. He holds it for a second and then another before straightening back up.

Iruka looks a little dumbstruck.

“Yeah, it – It was my pleasure. Don’t let her slack off and help her study, Naruto.” The man finally managers to say. Naruto won’t make him hang around any longer, and gives a small wave before running down the hall after his cousin. She’s waiting for him at the stares.

“No running in the hallways!” Is the indignant shout that follows them.

Something changes with Iruka after that.

Naruto still gets in trouble for pranks, Kasumi helps half the time but somehow manages to be so sneaky about it that Iruka doesn’t’ see. More times than not Naruto sees the way Iruka’s lips twitch in unwilling amusement. Iruka still calls on Kasumi, but whenever he does it’s always a question she’s able to answer with her ever expanding vocabulary. Naruto goes to Kasumi’s the lessons too. He sits quietly and watches Iruka and Kasumi as they have little conversations, their hands swooping about them as they talk.

It’s still boring, but it’s too useful not to learn. It’s already made talking to Kasumi in public so much easier, and Naruto can see how much it means to his cousin for him to be here.

Iruka is testing Kasumi, saying the word and Kasumi has to make the correct sign. Naruto is watching, silently cheering his cousin on as she tries to get through the set as fast as posable. She gets stuck on the word ‘grape’ and before Naruto can think not to, his own hands make the sign like it will somehow transfer over to Kasumi despite the fact that she’s facing away form him. She doesn’t get the word but she gets a few others that Naruto doesn’t remember.

Iruka sets his paper down and turns to Naruto.

He thinks the man is going to tell him to leave for interrupting the lesson, but no. Iruka surprises Naruto once again. He waves the blond Uzumaki over, his hands flashing through a series of signs slow enough that Naruto can follow.

‘Grab a chair, you are learning too.’

And so he unwittingly gets himself extra homework. 

It’s almost like Iruka relaxes after the first few Mondays. He’s stopped freezing at the sight of Naruto and instead gives him a smile more than unhappy or indifferent frowns. He _smiles_ at Naruto. Yeah, he knows that’s a really pathetic thing to be so excited about, but that’s just how it is. He can count on one hand how many people have smiled at him in the last year and he could lose a finger or two and still be fine.

It’s good, better than good.

Naruto would even go so far as to say that life is looking up. He has two new precious people and that’s two more than he’d had to start and he counts that as a win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are spelling errors. Deep in my heart I know this, but with these tired eyes I cannot see my own folly. I also still don't know where this is going but I have some ideas. Thank you so much to everyone that has commented and left likes. I really appreciate it.


	4. Laughter, Decisions, and Bitterness are all Both Emotions and Actions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just assume they passed the graduation test somehow and that stuff is moving forward. How? I don't know, but it might have involved Kasumi insisting that Naruto go to Iruka for help with the Clone Jutsu and he ended up teaching Naruto the Shadow Clone Jutsu instead. As for Mizuki, jsut assume he's dead or in I&T.

“That guy’s hair is pretty weird, what do you think he used to dye it?” Kasumi says, pointing her dango stick at a man with bright green hair. Naruto frowns in consideration.

“I think it’s natural.”

“No.” Kasumi adamantly denies. “There is no way hair that bright is natural.”

“It has to be.” There isn’t a sign of roots of a different color, and the color varies enough that it has to be form the sun naturally bleaching it out over time. Pulse, Naruto hadn’t seen any hair dye that color the last time they had went to the store to pick some up for a prank.

“It could be professional.” Kasumi defends.

“You think this guy has that type of money to spend, look at his shoes, they are nearly falling of his feet.”

Kasumi is determined.

“They could be his favorite pair, he could be too attached to throw them away.” It’s a fair point, but Naruto still isn’t buying it.

“I’m telling you, it’s natural.”

Kasumi hums in the back of her throat in the way that means she doesn’t agree with him but she’s not going to argue about it.

They are laying on their stomachs on a roof overlooking the market place. They managed to get some dango earlier and had decided to enjoy their prize as they mocked the people walking below. And by ‘managed’ he meant steal, because it’s not like anyone will sell the Uzumaki anything.

He would feel bad about stealing if this entire damn village didn’t hate them.

He can’t wait to become Hokage and force everyone of them to acknowledge him. Before he can get lost in a daydream, he sees something in the crowd.

Naruto’s smiles, it’s downright evil as he spots a familiar mop of brown hair in the crowd. Kasumi sees him too.

“You know, if we pretend to run into him, he will probably buy us ramen.” Naruto suggests, but it was never really a question in the first place.

Kasumi is already shoving the last of the dango in her mouth. “Let’s go.” She says past the mouthful.

It’s a three story drop to the ground, but they have a system. Naruto will lower Kasumi down, help her swing to the window sill. After his cousin gets a stable foothold, Naruto himself will dangle off the roof and swing himself at the same sill, if he doesn’t make it, Kasumi is there to haul him to the relative safety of the ledge. Repeat it once again, and after that it’s just a short jump to the dumpster below. Kasumi jumps first, and tests to see if the lid is sturdy enough under her lighter weight, and then Naruto follows and hopes that the lid doesn’t decide that the extra thirty pounds is too much to handle. They get up to the rooftops the same way, just leapfrogging each other up the buildings. Naruto boosting his cousin to the higher ledges and Kasumi reaching down to grab his hands as he jumps for it.

There was a steep learning curve that involved broken bones and more than a few unfortunate encounters with dumpsters and piles of recyclables.

When Naruto hops off the dumpster Kasumi is right beside him as they head for the street.

His laughter is half genuine and half a distraction as they run through the crowd of scoffs and sneers. Naruto is running backwards and with a tilt of Kasumi’s head, he changes directions and collides directly into Iruka-sensei.

“Naruto!” Their teacher shouts immediately, a frown that is mostly for show twists his face. He reaches out and snags Naruto by the collar lifting him up so he can’t run away from the scolding.

“How many times have I told you to look where you are running?” The man admonishes. Naruto gives a nervous laugh and looks away in at the rebuke. Kasumi is there then, she gives Iruka a innocent smile that seems to calm the man’s ire.

“And there is your partner in crime.” He says as he puts Naruto down. He places his hands on his hips as he regards the both.

Naruto laughs again and rubs at the back of his head.

“Sorry Iruka-sensei.” His apologizes, it makes the frown soften. Iruka gives a huff and shakes his head.

“Geeze, what am I going to do with you two?”

Kasumi gives another smile. Iruka rolls his eyes.

“Well, since you’re here, let’s go get some ramen and you can tell me what you two little trouble makers have been up to all day.”

Naruto cheers and bounces alongside Iruka as they head towards Ichiraku’s, Kasumi on his other side walking along more sedately but she is undeniably excited.

It’s the small things about Iruka that Naruto loves the most. He’ll call Naruto a trouble maker, a rascal, a pain in the ass, but he’s never called Naruto a monster, not even jokily. It’s a small thing, but it’s a kindness not many have for Naruto.

He chatters away as they eat, and Iruka pretends not to notice as both Naruto and Kasumi give him half of their boiled egg each. It’s the man’s favorite part of ramen and it’s the least they can do since the man’s treating them.

Iruka-sensei sends them off with hair ruffles.

“Don’t be late on Monday, it’s team assignments. If’ you’re late I’ll just tell them to make you do another year of the Academy” Iruka warns and Naruto laughs as him and Kasumi run away form the exasperated man.

It’s getting late, but neither one of them feel like going home just yet. They run through the alleys and vault over fences, laughing as they go.

It’s a good night. Even just two years ago, Naruto would never have dreamed happiness like this was posable, but now he can’t even comprehend what life would be like if he didn’t have Kasumi. He doesn’t know what he ever did to deserve his cousin, but he is thankful for it. As cruel as it is, he’s thankful that her parents were killed, because if they hadn’t Kasumi would never have come to Konoha. He hates himself for thinking that, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

…

Kakashi stares at the three posable team formations, and he despairs a little.

He would have Minato-sensei’s son and the Uchiha for sure, it was only an option between what third member they slapped onto the team. It was down to the Hyuga heiress, a civilian ditz, or the other Uzumaki. The Hyuga could go one of two ways, the girl would shape up and get past her crippling anxiety with the help of her two stubborn teammates, or she would be completely excluded by the boys. Haruno, they were counting on her growing out of her fangirl phase and into the genius that she kept showing in her written scores. The Uzumaki was personally Kakashi’s pick for three reasons. One: Her and Naruto already had fantastic teamwork, and he was willing to bet the two Uzumaki were stubborn enough to make the Uchiha get with the program through force. That was the second reason. If Kakashi got the two Uzumaki he was almost positive they would eliminate all flight risk from the Uchiha. Uzumaki managed to worm their ways into people’s hearts that way. And thirdly: If Kakashi was a betting man, he would say that the girl was going to have some sort of ability with the chakra chains that seemed to pop up in the female Uzumaki, and in case something happened, she would be damn near the only one that could hold back the Kubi if it came to that.

The Hokage was seemingly thinking along the same lines because he kept going back to Uzumaki Kasumi’s file. Shikaku was a little harder to read, but it was looking like he was going along the same lines.

“It would be a risk putting them all on the same team. If something happened to his cousin, I don’t think even Yondaime-sama’s seal would hold the Kubi. Not to mention how much of a target they would be for bloodline theft.” Shikaku mused, and it’s a fair risk to address.

Kakashi didn’t want a team, he really really didn’t, but he didn’t have a choice on that anymore, the only choice he got was for the third member. So he was going to push for the Uzumaki.

“True, but the advantages outweigh, the risks. It will likely eliminate flight risk from the Uchiha. And if the girl ends up with her clan’s sealing chains…” Kakashi shrugs, just laying the possibility out there for them to think about.

“And this way they are as safe as they can be.” He finishes.

It went unspoken that Kakashi was the most powerful shinobi in the village besides the Hokage. If he wasn’t careful he would get the hat thrown at him soon. Kakashi would do everything in his power to avoid that. He’ll hunt down Jiraiya before he lets that happen.

“Hmmm.” The Hokage hums, cutting off any other reply the younger men might have.

“With how young Sasuke’s evaluations have come out, I think it would be best to put Kasumi on the team. Her temperament will be a good bridge between the boys and smooth the way for their attachments to form.”

That was interesting. Kakashi hadn’t seen the evals of the Uchiha’s mental state yet, but if that was the angle the old man was going for, the flight risk must have been worse than Kakashi had assumed.

So forming attachment and loyalties to the village would be a priority then.

…

Sasuke hated the Uzumaki.

He –

The mere thought of the two made something hurt and ugly twist in his gut.

Before the red head came, it hadn’t been so bad.

It was a wordless constant. He was alone. Naruto was alone. They were alone together. It had eased something in him to know that he wasn’t the only one drowning beneath the whispered scorn of the village, that he wasn’t the only one in pain all the time. Naruto was just like him, and then he wasn’t.

When Naruto had walked into class holding the hand of Uzumaki Kasumi it felt like loss.

How was it fair that Naruto was blessed enough to find one of his kin, and yet Sasuke was alone in the world except for _that man_? How was it fair? 

It seethed in his gut. The unfairness of it. His own weakness. The jealousy.

He shouldn’t feel like this. He shouldn’t.

But he did and he hated it.

And then they were put on the same team and it felt like a slap to the face.

He didn’t want to be around them. It was like staring into the sun, it was too much. He saw how they were together, two halves of a whole, perfectly in sync. It was how Shisui and Itac- and _that man_ used to be.

It hurt to look at them. Their laughter, it was bright and brilliant and it hurt too much to stand. They had each other and _he was all alone_.

He hated them.

Then their new sensei keeps them waiting for hours on end and the silence was filled with Naruto’s endless chatter. Sasuke observes his new teammates out of the corner of his eye. Never once had Sasuke heard the female Uzumaki speak. It wasn’t so noticeable in class, not with Naruto always talking enough for the both of them, but it was never the less true.

It had become a game of sorts at the beginning. Some of the meaner civilian girls had tried to make something of it, cornering the red haired Uzumaki while Naruto was leading Iruka on a chase around the village for one of his pranks. They had teased her, the rest of the class looking on in either apathy or curiosity, no one steeping up to intervene, not even Ino.

“Why don’t you talk? Are you some sort of freak?” The girl had mocked. At first Kasumi had ignored them, but then the civilian girl had raised a hand.

“Don’t ignore me, Freak.” She had said, going to push the Uzumaki.

The blow hadn’t landed and instead the Uzumaki had grabbed the offending appendage and used it to pull her tormentor directly into her fist. The civilian girl’s nose had given way with a sickening crunch, and then the Uzumaki had rounded on the minions in the back. She reached out and grabbed the first’s hair using the grip to knee her in the face. The other she grabbed by the front of the shirt and head butted her in the nose. 

The Uzumaki had broken all three of the girl’s noses, and then when she looked up, she stared at the entire class in defiance, as if daring them to say something about it. No one did, and no one ever said anything about her silence after that.

Iruka had come back not three minutes later, dragging Naruto with him, and he had stopped dead at the crying faces of the girls that had picked themselves off the ground and dragged themselves back to their seats.

“What happened here!?” He demanded. The three girls had pointed at Kasumi, but the Uzumaki just shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t know what they were talking about. No one said anything to contradict her. Iruka could put together the pieces, and let the subject drop with nothing but the command for the injured girls to go to the nurse.

It was common knowledge that the Uzumaki were Iruka’s favorites. Not that it effected much. They also happened to be his favorite to scold, but maybe that was just that Naruto was always pulling some stupid prank.

Looking at the red haired Uzumaki now, it was the silver lining of a fuck awful cloud that she wasn’t a silly fan girl.

That didn’t change the fact that Sasuke hated them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have no idea where this is going and at this point I kinda don't like this anymore. But I already have a bunch of stuff written for it, so I'm going to suck it up and keep posting what I have when I have time to go back and proofread it a little. Needless to say some things I wrote out of order so the details might be a little fucked, I try to catch them but YOLO. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> I have absolutely no idea where this is going or if will go anywhere at all. Thanks for reading.


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